Friday, May 25, 2012

You know the story; the widow gave all she had to God. What a wonderful example of dedication! Here's the text from Luke 21:

1[Jesus] looked up and saw the rich dropping their offerings into the temple treasury. 2 He also saw a poor widow dropping in two tiny coins. 3 “I tell you the truth,” He said. “This poor widow has put in more than all of them.4 For all these people have put in gifts out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”

I read something the other day (don't remember where) which gave me a
new perspective on this account of the widow's offering. I don't know
that the perspective is accurate, but it's a thought that never occurred
to me before.

If we include the paragraph just prior to this account in Luke 21:1ff, and the paragraph after, we have this construction:

"Beware of the scribes, who devour widows' houses." (Luke 20:46-47)

"This widow put everything she had to live on into the Temple treasury." (Luke 21:1-4)

"This Temple adorned with gifts dedicated to God? The day is coming when not one stone will be left on another." (Luke 21:5-6)

How do scribes devour widows' houses? Are they making mortgage loans to
the widows, and then foreclosing on those loans? Maybe the scribes are romancing
the widows, using them for their money until the money's all gone? Or
is it a more subtle, psychological method? Maybe it's that the scribes
are teaching from the pulpit that if you don't contribute to the church,
you're cheating God?

Looked at in this light, it's less a praising of the woman's generosity
(although it is that, too), than a condemnation of the Temple
authorities' pressuring everyone, including those who can't afford it,
to give what they can't afford in order to build up the meeting house
which is gone tomorrow.

Is this an accurate understanding of this text? I don't know. But I thought it worth sharing.

Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Most of us have not experienced any supernatural activity in our lives
which would lead us to believe the Spirit's miraculous workings still
occur. And as we tend to be very experience-influenced (it's natural to
walk by sight, "unnatural" to walk by faith), we tend to think if we
don't see it happening, it must not happen.

Totally understandable viewpoint.

But the question is not, "What do we experience?"; the question is, "What do the Scriptures say?".

The "Scriptural objections" that miraculous powers have ceased comes from three lines of reasoning:

1) We see that the purpose of miracles in the New Testament was to
confirm the Word, which has since been completed and confirmed, thus
ending the need for that purpose any more.

2) We see that miraculous powers were given by the laying on of the
apostles' hands, and since the apostles have now all died out, that
source of power is no longer available to us.

3) 1 Cor 13:8-13 says that miraculous powers will cease when the perfect
knowledge/prophecy has arrived, and now that the Bible has been
completed, that condition is fulfilled.

Let's look more closely at those three "Scriptural objections":

1) The Purpose of Miracles Has Been Fulfilled

Reason #1 is based on the false notion that the only purpose of miracles
was to confirm the message of the apostles. Confirmation of the
apostles' message is indeed a purpose of "signs and wonders":

HCSB Heb 2:3 how will we escape if
we neglect such a great salvation? It was first spoken by the Lord and
was confirmed to us by those who heard Him. 4
At the same time, God also testified by signs and wonders, various
miracles, and distributions of gifts from the Holy Spirit according to
His will.

and

1 Cor 1:4 I always thank my God for you because of God’s grace given to you in Christ Jesus, 5 that by Him you were enriched in everything—in all speech and all knowledge. 6 In this way, the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you, 7 so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

and

HCSB Mark 16:20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word by the accompanying signs.

In the above passages, we see that the Lord's message was established by the "mouth" of two witnesses (2 Cor 13:1):
- that of the apostles, and
- that of miraculous workings from God

However, confirmation of the apostles' message is not the only purpose
of miraculous spiritual gifts. As is evident from the following passage,
miraculous gifts were not merely for those who needed the word
confirmed, but also for those who had already believed the word and no
longer needed it confirmed:

HCSB 1 Cor 14:22 It follows that speaking in other languages is intended as a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers. But prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers.

So we begin to see that there are other purposes for miracles other than
only confirming the message of the apostles. What, then, are some of
those purposes?

HCSB 1 Cor 14:3 But the person who prophesies speaks to people for edification, encouragement, and consolation.

In this passage above we see three additional purposes for prophecy (for a total of four, so far):
- Building up (edification)
- Encouragement
- Consolation (I would think things such as healing a sick person, just
for the sake of improving their life, would fit into this category)

Still another purpose for miracles is revealed by the following Scripture (bringing our total to five):

HCSB 1 Cor 14:24 But if all are prophesying and some unbeliever or uninformed person comes in, he is convicted by all and is judged by all. 25
The secrets of his heart will be revealed, and as a result he will fall
facedown and worship God, proclaiming, “God is really among you.”

Here we see that prophecy is not a sign for confirmation of the word,
but for convicting and judging an unbeliever of the secrets of his heart
to lead to his praise of God.

And here's a sixth purpose given by Scripture:

HCSB Acts 11:28 Then one of them,
named Agabus, stood up and predicted by the Spirit that there would be a
severe famine throughout the Roman world. This took place during the time of Claudius. 29 So each of the disciples, according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brothers who lived in Judea.

and

HCSB Acts 21:10 While we were staying there many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11
He came to us, took Paul’s belt, tied his own feet and hands, and said,
“This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews in Jerusalem
will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into Gentile
hands.’”

Here in these two passages we see that a purpose of prophecy is to
provide practical information to the church so that the believers might
then take action based on that information.

So, using these Scriptures, we see that there are at least six purposes of miraculous Spiritual gifts:

- confirming the message of the apostles
- building up (edification)
- encouraging
- consolation
- conviction/judgment of the unbeliever
- practical information useful to the church

Of these six purposes, only one, that of confirming the apostles'
message, is no longer necessary, since we no longer have apostles giving
a message needing confirmation. We still have the other five needs
however, so there may be room for miracles to fill those needs.

2) The Gifts are No Longer Available Because the Apostles Can No Longer Give the Gifts

Like Reason #1, this Reason #2 is also based on a false notion, that the
only way to receive such Spiritual gifts is through the laying on of
the Apostle's hands. But the Scriptures demonstrate that there are at
least three methods for acquiring such Spiritual gifts:

- through the laying on of the apostles' hands:

HCSB Acts 8:18 When Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power too, so that anyone I lay hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.”

- at God's whim:

HCSB Acts 10:44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came down on all those who heard the message. 45
The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded
because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles
also. 46 For they heard them speaking in other languages and declaring the greatness of God.

- by eager desire and prayer

HCSB 1 Cor 14:1 Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and above all that you may prophesy. ... 13 Therefore the person who speaks in another language should pray that he can interpret.... 39 Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in other languages.

3) 1 Cor 13 Says Miracles Will Cease When the Bible is Completed

As shown above, of the three purported "Scriptural objections" to
miracles in the present day, the first two fail to stand up to scrutiny.
This leaves 1 Corinthians 13:8-13 as the sole "Scriptural" objection to
miracles in the present day.

It should be noted at the outset that this passage does not say,
"Miracles will cease when the Bible is completed." That is a meaning
placed upon the text which may or may not be there. I easily grant that
some people understand this text to mean that, but it must be acknowledged that the text does not say that.

This passage has been interpreted as a prophecy of the end of prophecy.
But looking at the context, that's not what Paul was trying to get at.
What is the theme of his overall discussion in these few chapters?

His theme is Love, and it starts way back in chapter 11, when he discusses the abuses going on at their assemblies.

The Corinthians claimed to be meeting together to honor the Lord in the
Lord's Supper, but Paul says that's not what they were actually doing
(11:20). It seems that in the early days, the Lord's Supper was
intertwined with a full meal, just as the Last Supper was an
intertwining of specific parts of the Passover meal with the full meal
of the Passover.

However, the Corinthians had lost sight of the fact that this meal was
about honoring Jesus' death (11:23-26), and about being united
(11:17-22; 33-34). They were selfishly filling up their plates and
scarfing their food without concern for anyone behind them in line,
which left some folks hungry while others were gorging and imbibing to
the point of getting drunk (11:21).

Paul made it clear that this meal was not about satisfying your hunger;
that can be done at home (11:22; 34). Instead, this meal is about
honoring the death of Jesus (11:26), and recognizing that this is not an
act designed for the individual, but for the whole body (11:21;33); if
they eat and drink without recognizing the body, they're eating and
drinking judgment to themselves (11:29). So they need to wait on one
another, so that they won't come under judgment (11:33-34).

The focus here is love for each other, as opposed to selfishness.

Then we move to chapter 12, where we see hints that the same selfishness
we saw in chapter 11 in regards to eating the Lord's Supper is also
going on with spiritual gifts, with the members thinking "my gift is
better than yours". Paul says there are different gifts, given to each
person by the same Spirit according to the Spirit's will (12:4-11). Just
because you're not an "eye", that doesn't mean you're not part of the
body; you may be an "ear", serving just as valid of a role (12:16-21).
And even the less-mentionable roles are needed (12:22-25). He starts to
wind down this section by saying that God intended there to be no
division in the body, but that each member would have the same concern
for each other (12:25). He finalizes this section with an appeal to
desire the greater gifts, but that the better way is yet to be explained
(12:31).

In chapter 13, Paul explains that the better way is love. Some day, the
"greater gifts" of prophecy and supernatural knowledge will cease
(13:8-11), when we have all the answers (13:12), but even then, faith,
hope, and love continues, with the greatest of these being love (12:13).

He then finishes up his discourse on Spiritual gifts by giving practical
guidelines for how those gifts should be used (all of chapter 14),
finishing up with a command to be eager for the types of gifts that
better foster love such as prophecy, while not forbidding the other
gifts such as speaking in tongues (14:39).

Throughout these chapters, love is Paul's overall theme.

Notice that Paul is not concerned with teaching his readers when
prophecy and
supernatural knowledge would cease. Instead, his concern is to say that
our focus should not be on the gee-whiz special effects of Spiritual
gifts like prophecy and supernatural knowledge, which will cease when
they've finished their job, but rather on faith, hope, and love, which
will remain, with
love being the greatest.

The question is, have these special-effects gifts finished their job?

Many Christians would answer "Yes", equating the finishing of their job
with the completion of the New Testament, largely based on their
understanding of these gifts as only having the purpose of confirming
the apostles' message which we now find in the New Testament.

But as mentioned above, that's not the only purpose for the gifts. We
still have at least five other needs which would be enhanced via
miraculous spiritual gifts.

Not to mention that I don't see clearly, face-to-face, knowing fully as I am fully known (1 Cor 13:12).

Conclusion

The arguments that miracles have ceased are two: 1) we don't witness
them, making us think they must not happen, and 2) Scriptural
objections.

Of the three recognized Scriptural objections, the first two are invalid, and the third is questionable.

In conjunction with the New Testament indicating that the Spirit gives
gifts to each believer for the Spirit's purposes, it is reasonable to be
cautious of using the questionable third objection to those gifts as
being the final word on the matter.